Considering the Blue Hens have actually been there and done that, they’ll again enter the NCAA Field Hockey Tournament with a “Why not us?” attitude in their quest for another championship.

It worked a year ago, when they were surprise NCAA champs after finishing the regular season ranked No. 8 nationally. Delaware just so happens to be ranked No. 8 again, though the final Top 25 comes out Tuesday.

“I’m just excited to start an adventure,” 2016 national player of the year Greta Nauck said after Delaware’s 3-0 victory over 19th-ranked William & Mary in the Colonial Athletic Association title game at Rullo Stadium.

Delaware will face No. 5-ranked Penn State (16-4) Saturday at 2 p.m. at the University of Connecticut in the first round. Delaware downed the Nittany Lions 2-0 Sept. 17 at a neutral site. No. 1-seeded UConn (19-0) plays the Fairfield-Boston University play-in winner in Saturday's other matchup. The winners collide Sunday

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Taylor Lister (left) is congratulated by Lotta de Koning (center) and Greta Nauck after her goal early in the second half broke a scoreless tie.(Photo: Saquan Stimpson, Special to The News Journal)

The Final Four is Nov. 17 and 19 at Louisville’s Trager Stadium.

Last year, Delaware won its final 19 games, including NCAA Tournament victories over Louisville, top-seeded Duke on the Blue Devils’ home field, Princeton in the semifinals and then North Carolina in the title game 3-2 at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. The Blue Hens finished 23-2. All but four starters from that team returned this year.

“Last year doesn’t matter,” said Taylor Lister, who broke a scoreless tie 27 seconds into the second half by poking in a loose ball after a long scramble among a mass of players in front of the cage.

“But it just gives us a little boost of confidence knowing that we can, or like underdogs can do it. I think we’re pushing through that underdog phase and we just have to believe in ourselves and in each other.”

Less than five minutes after Lister’s goal, UD defender Sarah Horgan swatted a potential Tribe equalizer out of the air while standing near the goal line.

Delaware went ahead 2-0 with 16:56 left when Lotta de Koning drove a shot off a penalty corner and Nauck deflected it in. Five minutes later Nauck, who was named tournament MVP, scored off another corner with Kayla Devlin assisting.

“The most important thing we can learn from last year,” Nauck said, “is it doesn’t matter what people say, it doesn’t matter if we are the underdog, if people expect us to win or not to win. We really have to focus on ourselves and know what we are capable of and what we as a team can achieve.”

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Delaware forward Lisa Giezeman attempts to pass the ball in the box in the first half of the CAA field hockey finals Sunday.(Photo: SAQUAN STIMPSON/SPECIAL TO THE NEWS JOURNAL)

The CAA Tournament title and NCAA berth were the fifth in a row for Delaware, and seventh since joining the league in 2002.

“That target is not on our back,” seventh-year UD coach Rolf van de Kerkhof said. “It’s a new season. We are excited to be back in the dance and we have the whole week to prepare for whoever we’re going to face. There’s one thing to be certain about this year’s NCAA field. It’s all good teams but everybody’s relatively close.”

Delaware had downed the Tribe in their regular-season meeting 3-1 at Rullo on Oct. 20 and has won nine straight against William & Mary (13-7).

“We should be better prepared for whatever’s coming, because we’ve been there,” van de Kerkhof said.